Massive Roman grave revealed in A66 excavation
Oxford Cotswold ArchaeologyMore evidence of ancient funeral rites have been discovered at one of the largest Roman cemeteries ever excavated in the UK.
Last year, archaeologists started work on the A66 ahead of plans to widen the road between Penrith and Scotch Corner.
Academics have known about a Roman grave on the site near Penrith since the 1960s but have never been able to dig there so extensively.
Dr Lauren McIntyre from commercial company Oxford Cotswold Archaeology said the team had so far uncovered evidence of about 340 graves.
She said the team had also discovered evidence of Romans being both cremated and buried at the site.
"It does mean that there's probably an element of choice for people when it comes to deciding what sort of funerary rights to give to their loved ones," McIntyre said.
She also said the site was likely to be far bigger than what they had dug up so far.
"It's pretty massive," she said.
The site is separate to another Roman grave found on the A66 at Kirkby Thore near Appleby in 2018.
Oxford ArchaeologyMcIntyre also said as the site was near a Roman fort and settlement, it probably held both civilians and soldiers.
"There's no indication that the civilians were being buried anywhere else," she said.
The team also found several ceramic pots which may have contained the ashes of Romans or grave goods such as wine or oil.
One of the grave goods found at the site was a Cupid figurine which was likely to have been buried with cremated ashes.
The team's next steps will be to analyse the ashes they have collected with the aim of discovering where the soldiers who were likely buried at the site were actually from.
McIntyre said it was known that soldiers in the Roman Empire were usually not from the area where they were stationed.
She said the team hoped to use isotopic analysis to help pinpoint the location of where these people likely grew up.
